The BBC's David Bamford"The Moroccans have been working to secure support for their position" real 28k

Sunday, 8 July, 2001, 15:02 GMT 16:02 UK

OAU considers Morocco readmission

African leaders are divided over Morocco's readmission

By North Africa correspondent David Bamford

African foreign ministers meeting in Zambia ahead of Monday's summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) have been discussing a proposal to allow Morocco to become a member of the OAU's successor next year, the African Union.

Behind the scenes in recent weeks, the Moroccans have been working to secure support for their position

But there is division between African states about whether to allow Morocco to return to the fold.

Morocco is the only country in Africa to have been excluded from the organisation.

However, the Moroccans believe the OAU's transformation over the coming year into a new regional grouping, the African Union, is an opportunity to rejoin the African family.

Behind the scenes in recent weeks, the Moroccans have been working to secure support for their position.

Meetings

The country's new king, Mohammed VI, has received a number of African heads of state, including the president of Ghana, and has visited Senegal, where the issue of Morocco being admitted into the African Union is believed to have been discussed.

King Mohammed VI has met several African leaders

Morocco was forced out of the OAU in 1984, when a majority of African states lined up behind Algeria to recognise the Polisario movement's claim to the territory of Western Sahara, which Morocco had annexed in 1975.

For 10 years, the United Nations and the OAU have jointly supported the idea of a referendum to resolve the issue.

But this has failed to take place and last month the UN shifted its position, apparently acknowledging Moroccan sovereignty over the territory.

But the Algerians remain hostile, and they believe they can count on some heavy players in Africa, including Nigeria and South Africa, to ensure that the Moroccan bid to be re-accepted in Africa ends in failure.